(201) Magazine Blogs

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Marty St. Louis has just three assists in 13 games with the Rangers, certainly not what he or the Rangers expected after being swapped for Ryan Callahan in a captain-for-captain trade deadline day deal.

But St. Louis is certainly not hiding from his struggles. On the contrary, he was once again very forthright about the state of his game after the Rangers practiced today at Max Bell Arena in Calgary before the team departed for Edmonton for Sunday night’s game against the Oilers.

As detailed in the previous blog post, St. Louis will start Sunday night’s game back on Brad Richards’ right wing along with Carl Hagelin, part of the new lines coach Alain Vigneault unveiled at today’s practice and said he was “75 percent sure” he’d use against the Oilers to start.

“That’s my natural position so that’s comfortable for me,” St. Louis said of being back on right wing after playing the last two games on Derek Stepan’s left wing along with Rick Nash. “I’ve played left but I’m way more comfortable on the right.”

He also has a natural comfort with Richards - albeit one that didn’t show when the trio, with Hagelin, was together for the first four games after St. Louis’ acquisition - that dates to their time together with the Lightning.

“Every game you go in and you prepare yourself to make it work,” St. Louis said. “I felt that when we first played together, we had some looks but we didn’t convert, they didn’t go in. Those guys are playing good right now and I’m hoping they keep it going and I’m able to get it going myself.”

It’s been more difficult than Vigneault probably anticipated finding the right linemates for St. Louis. So far, he’s played with Richards and centers Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard.

The question becomes, is St. Louis trying too hard to make his game fit his linemates’ style rather than just trusting his natural talent? A long time ago, in 2000, St. Louis was in danger of losing his spot in the Lightning lineup in his first season in Tampa Bay after being bought out by the Flames before deciding he needed to play his game rather than trying so hard to fit in.

“You’ve got to be aware of the people your playing with, how they play, they’re strengths,” St. Louis said. “Understand their tendencies so you can predict where the puck is going to go. It’s a game of inches. So you have to be able to predict. If you play in the present, it’s hard to create chances. If you play in the future, it’s easier to create more.

“I’m trying to find my game,” St. Louis added. “I haven’t gone through this in a long time so it’s a little bit of unchartered territory, meaning I haven’t experienced that type of adversity in a long time. The good thing is the team’s winning (8-4-1 with him in the lineup). That’s always the most important so you don’t put too much pressure on yourself. That’s easier said than done. I’m a hungry guy. I’m a guy that maybe overthinks it and can be consumed by it.”

Rather than his first season with the Lightning, St. Louis said this bad stretch of adversity reminds him of the 2005-06 season. The Lightning had won the Stanley Cup in 2004 and St. Louis earned the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP. Then, the second of three (so far) owner’s lockouts wiped out the 2004-05 season.

“I had won a lot of individual awards,” St. Louis said. “It was a tough year that year. It almost felt like everybody was watching you. I kind of feel that same way. I came out of that and I know I can come out of this. I’m getting tested mentally, no doubt. I’m going to come out of this as a better player. It’s a fine line but you’ve got to find it. Once you find it, you’ve just got to go with it.

“The good thing is, everybody, my family, my kids, is adjusting to the move really well,” St. Louis added. “I’m taking the struggle. The team’s winning games but that’s what you’re after. If I scored every day and we lose, I’d have to answer different questions.”
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Alain Vigneault started practice today at Max Bell Arena on the outskirts of Calgary by calling over J.T. Miller for a private chat along the boards. The coach gestured with his hands liberally and frequently, seemingly showing Miller which paths he should be taking and other positioning guidance.

Then, Vigneault chatted with Dan Carcillo, the gritty veteran who has been a healthy scratch the three previous games, including Friday night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames. This chat was shorter and much more congenial. At one point, a smiling Carcillo was leaning his arm on his coach’s shoulder.

Then, Vigneault skated a couple of laps with struggling future Hall of Famer Marty St. Louis.

Given that, the lineup news that came out of today’s 40-minute practice, devoted about 50 percent to special teams work, cannot be considered surprising.

Essentially: St. Louis, after playing with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash the previous two games on left wing, will be back on his natural right side and back with Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin, which is how St. Louis started his so far rocky Rangers tenure. Also, Carcillo will likely be back in the lineup for J.T. Miller, benched in the third period against the Flames for what Vigneault termed not executing some offensive and defensive opportunities in the second period. Miller, in the first period, was one of the Rangers’ best forwards, probably the most active. Also, while Cam Talbot was not among the chatted, the backup goalie will get the start against the Oilers as Henrik Lundqvist will get a rest following eight straight starts.

So while Vigneault said he is only “75 percent sure” of what he wants to do with his lines against the Oilers, that means there’s a 75 percent chance how the Rangers skated today is how they’ll start tomorrow. Which was:
Dan Carcillo-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash
Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marty St. Louis
Benoit Pouliot-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle-Dominic Moore-Derek Dorsett.

“He’s a high-energy guy,” Nash said of Carcillo. “He brings a lot of speed. I think he has been the guy that his skill has been underrated. He can pass and he can make plays.”

“I don’t know, really, what’s going on,” Carcillo said when asked about skating with Stepan and Nash. “I don’t like talking what-ifs or maybes. It doesn’t matter who I play with. I don’t see it as a difference.

“I knew my role coming into the team,” Carcillo added when asked about being out of the lineup for three games. “I play as well as I can. I played well when I first showed up but I always knew I was taking a guy’s spot when he was hurt (Dorsett). It didn’t come as a surprise to me.”
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Approaching Dan Girardi’s locker stall after Friday night’s 4-3 loss to the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the question to be asked was a simple one: Did the way the Rangers played, particularly defensively, serve as any kind of eye-opener in terms of how they needed to play during this four-game road trip.

But while Girardi talked about the numerous turnovers that fed the Flames’ transition game, he didn’t necessarily consider it an “eye-opener.” If anything, Girardi said the problem was too much effort, an eagerness to make an extra play to get the puck into the Flames’ zone rather than just simply get the puck deep behind their defensemen.

“I don’t think so,” Girardi said. “We had a lot of chances in the first period. It easily could have been a tie game. The goalie (Karri Ramo, 38 saves), made a couple of big saves but then we had the big start in the second (three goals in the first 5:39). I felt like we tried to make that extra play across their blue line or right before the blue line and we’d turn the pucks over and it was only a matter of time that they got a good opportunity and they’d put one in. I think up, 3-2, we had to keep getting it behind the D, cycle and get them moving around. I felt we got a little stubborn when we got the lead in the second making more plays than we had to.”

(Two side notes here: 1. Sorry for the delay in posting this wrap up, which usually is available much closer to the end of the game. The internet crapped out at the Calgary hotel so I’ve been unable to post until now; 2. Girardi should be commended for being one of the Rangers that stayed in the dressing room to address the media. It’s not a complete list but McDonagh, Marc Staal, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan, Rick Nash and Henrik Lundqvist also lingered for as long as anybody wanted to talk to them. However, there was a parade of players bolting the room just prior to it being opened to the media).

The Rangers will know at some point during their game tonight against the Flames here at the Scotiabank Saddledome how the Flyers have fared against the visiting Maple Leafs and the Blue Jackets have done against the visiting Penguins.

For the Rangers, though, and this is way up there on the obvious meter, is concentrating on tonight’s game. Because the Flames don’t figure to be an easy out. They’re out of the playoff hunt and testing their young players for next season. They’ve won five of their last eight and can score goals, their recent 8-1 win at Edmonton and 6-5 loss at Nashville as evidence.

Flames coach Bob Hartley was explaining how he’s pushing his team after the morning skate, saying though the team knows it’s not in the playoffs, they’re treating the schedule as a succession of seven-game series. The Flames are 1-1 in their latest series.

“We know we’re in the pretending game but we’re stepping on the pedal more,” Hartley said. “These guys are responding well. Even though we want to be in playoff mode, we’re playing a different team every night.”

For the Rangers, on a season-high five-game winning streak, Ryan McDonagh comes in with a five-game point streak and the fourth line comes in with a two-game streak of being the the Rangers’ best line.

“They’re playing high percentage hockey,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “They’re playing real solid and working their way back when they don’t have the puck and when they do working it into the other team’s end. They get it behind their Ds, they make their defensemen turn and go after the puck and they wear them down and that’s what they’ve done real well for us the last few games.”

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.